The Northern Territory Explores Becoming a State

BtN: Episode 21 Transcript 4/08/15

Coming up

·  The Northern Territory explores becoming a state.

·  We go on the lookout for aliens after the launch of an expensive new search program.

·  And meet the police packing four legs and a mane

Hi I'm Nathan and this is BtN. Thanks for joining us. You'll see all that later but first today, there's been some big stories around this week so let's catch up with them in The Wire.

The Wire

Bronwyn Bishop has resigned as speaker of the House of Representatives. She's been in the spotlight for a few weeks now after it was revealed she spent more than five thousand dollars of taxpayers' money on a helicopter flight. The hunt is now on for a replacement while the whole entitlement system is getting a review too.

A lot of people are upset after a famous lion called Cecil was killed by an American tourist in Zimbabwe. Walter Palmer paid around sixty-eight thousand dollars to hunt the lion and he says he thought he was doing it legally. But authorities reckon his hunting group lured Cecil out of his protected habitat.

And a group of students in Canberra has raised more than three thousand dollars to buy a life-saving piece of equipment after a student's near death experience. Tom's heart stopped when he was playing basketball with his Dad. His dad did CPR on him until Paramedics arrived with a defibrillator, a machine that's used to restart someone's heart.

TOM, TRINITY CHRISTIAN SCHOOL STUDENT: Just so lucky that my dad was there, and that he knew how to do CPR properly. If he wasn't there, I probably wouldn’t be here today.

Tom's classmates decided to raise money to buy a defibrillator so it could be used to save someone else's life.

Food Origins

Reporter: Matthew Holbrook

INTRO: Now, Australian shoppers are about to get a better idea of where their food comes from. The Government has unveiled a new labelling system which should make it a lot easier to tell which packaged foods come from Australia and which come from overseas. But will these labels actually change our buying habits? Matt found out.

We all love food, but how much do you really know about where the stuff you eat comes from?

VOX: Well on the can it says 100% Aussie Grown.

VOX: It says on the back it's made in Australia, but some of the ingredients have been imported back from other countries.

VOX: I think most of it... half of it has at least come from like New Zealand or China.

As you can see, finding that answer just from reading the label can be pretty tough. There can be different logos, and ways of saying what sounds like the same thing.

MATT HOLBROOK, REPORTER: Made in Australia from local and imported ingredients, Australian Owned, Made in Australia.

And even if something says it's ‘Made in Australia’ it doesn't necessarily mean the ingredients used are actually local.

As long as most of the finished product was made here, it's OK to print on the label that it's "Made in Australia", even if most the things it's made with are from overseas.

It's no wonder there can be confusion about where our food is from. And for some people, that's really important info. Some would rather buy food they know has come from and will support Australian farmers. Some prefer food that hasn't travelled as far to shop shelves. And some prefer to know that their food meets Aussie health and safety guidelines, which became a big talking point a few months ago.

28 people were infected with a virus called Hepatitis A, after eating frozen berries imported from China.

TRUDIE SIMS: It's made me sick and it might make others sick.

While the berries were packaged in Australia, they were grown and washed overseas, and some people who ate them said they didn't realise they weren't actually buying Australian, because it wasn't obvious from reading the packet.

So now the government has developed this, a new labelling system that explains where food comes from.

TONY ABBOTT, PRIME MINISTER: If a product has got the green and gold kangaroo triangle, it is made and processed in Australia. If the product has the gold bar, the product is Australian.

The bar across the bottom shows what percentage of ingredients used are Australian. They're set to be introduced next year, as long as the states and territories approve. But while the system has been designed to clear up confusion, some think we should know exactly where every ingredient comes from, and they say there isn't enough info on the new labels. While some Aussie manufacturers say they'll have to keep changing labels at times when they have to source ingredients from overseas, which could be tricky.

So what do you think?

VOX: I think that’s it’s good because people want to know if their food has come from a different country or not or if it's been on a ship for weeks.

VOX: I think it's good how they've put the percentage on it so you know that more than half of it is made in Australia or all of it’s made in Australia is or none of it is made in Australia.

VOX: I think it's good they're putting labels on the food so Australian farmers don't go out of business.

Online Poll

So will these labels change your family's buying habits? Or are you more likely to choose things for other reasons like price or taste? Let's find out.

Will the Government's new food labels change what products you buy?

Head to our website to place your vote.

Hiroshima

Reporter: Amelia Moseley

INTRO: Okay. Thursday the 6th of August marks 70 years since the first time nuclear weapons were used in war. The target was the Japanese city of Hiroshima. Another city called Nagasaki was hit a few days later. But what led up to this terrible event? And what has the world learnt from it? Here's Amelia with the answers.

Once upon a time, there was a little girl called Sadako who was very sick. One day, she learned about an ancient Japanese tradition: if a person has enough patience and commitment to fold one thousand paper cranes, they will be granted one wish. Sadako started folding, for she wished to be well again

It's a story that's been retold in many countries and many languages, and although it might seem like a fairytale, the story of Sadako is real. She was one of hundreds of thousands of people that experienced the world's first nuclear attack.

It was the 6th of August 1945 and World War II had been going on for nearly six years. At exactly 8.15am, this American bomber plane called the Enola Gay dropped an atomic bomb on the Japanese city of Hiroshima, where Sadako lived. The explosion instantly wiped out 90 per cent of the city, killing around 70 thousand people. Three days later, the US dropped another atomic bomb on the nearby city of Nagasaki. It killed about 60 thousand people.

Japan surrendered days after the second bombing and World War Two came to an end. But the impact lasted for a lot longer than that, because an atomic bomb is like no other weapon on earth.

Inside, the atoms of certain radioactive elements are split into smaller pieces. This releases a huge amount of energy, but also a huge amount of radiation. In Japan, this poisonous radioactive waste killed hundreds of thousands of people long after the war was over. Sadako was one of them. She was two years old when the first bomb dropped. She survived, but ten years later she died of cancer caused by the radiation.

For years after the attack on Hiroshima, people all over the world lived in fear as countries raced to develop their own nuclear weapons.

Old public information movie: We must all get ready now so we know how to save ourselves if the atomic bomb ever explodes near us.

But luckily, they have never been used in war again.

Only these countries still have them. Most countries have promised not to develop them as part of a big agreement. The aim is to help protect people from the most powerful kind of weapon ever created.

Back in Japan, the city of Hiroshima has been rebuilt; although some ruins still stand. Every year, the world remembers the anniversary of the bombings and the innocent people, like Sadako, who died because of them.

Her story has inspired kids around the world to make paper cranes - just like she did. This class in Darwin spent about a month folding one thousand of them, which they sent to a memorial museum in Hiroshima to honour those who died.

GIRL 1: It made us feel really sad that the war was on and that it killed a little girl, an innocent little girl and that it killed a lot of innocent people.

GIRL 2: We learnt that it was the first atomic bomb dropped anywhere in the world. And that it was really bad and it should never happen again.

The cranes have become a symbol of peace, and a way to make sure the world's only nuclear attacks are never forgotten and never repeated.

Quiz 1

Okay, quiz time now.

How much uranium was in the bomb that was dropped on Hiroshima?

Was it 64kg

304kg

904kg

The answer is 64kg

State or Territory

Reporter: Eloise Fuss

INTRO: Now, the Northern Territory has revealed that they intend on becoming a state within the next few years. But why? What's wrong with being called a territory? Eloise looks at the perks and privileges that come along with a different title.

ELOISE FUSS, REPORTER: It's a part of Australia known for its big crocs and even bigger rocks. The Northern Territory's a unique part of our country. But should this unique territory become a unique state instead?

Right now Australia's made up of six states and two territories; the Northern Territory and the ACT. But did you know that when Australia became a Federation, back in 1901, the Northern Territory was actually a part of South Australia? It wasn't until 1978 that the Top End became independent, with its own government, flag, parliament and laws.

Today the NT pretty much looks and acts like all the states. Well there are some differences if you look closely.

The big difference is that the Federal Government can override any laws or decisions made in the NT that it doesn't agree with. It can't do that to the states. The Territory also has heaps fewer senators in the Federal Parliament, so it gets less of a say in Canberra. Their leader gets called a Chief Minister rather than a Premier and while states all get Governors, the Territory goes without.

Despite these differences though, Territorians still mostly get to live just as they'd like to. Letting off crackers once a year, and cruising down some highways without speed limits. But that doesn't stop some people here from thinking they should trade up to a state.

The NT's Chief Minister says it's finally time and the other Australian leaders have backed the idea too. But it's not that easy.

FEDERAL TREASURER, JOE HOCKEY: Haven't we heard this before?

Back in the 1980's the NT tried to become a state but Territorians voted down the idea. Some were worried it could take away their strong land rights for Indigenous people. And others just didn't think the population was big enough - just 1% of Australia's population live in the NT!

But this time, the Chief Minister thinks they might have what it takes to...

NT CHIEF MINISTER, ADAM GILES: see the Northern Territory strive to become a state by the 1st July 2018.

They're still figuring out details of what'll happen if it goes ahead this time.

It could even need a new name! Some NT kids have suggested: Red Sky, Top End, Sunburnt Country, Culture Land, Dusty Red, Sunbound and Horizon Sky.

But whether it wants to change name, or stay as good old NT, the people of this unique part of Australia know there's some work ahead if they want to become a state. But Territorians are used to tackling tricky subjects.

Quiz 2

Okay, let’s go to another quiz. Which island is also considered a territory of Australia?

Is it Lord Howe

King

Or Norfolk?

The answer is Norfolk Island

Alien Hunt

Reporter: Amelia Moseley

INTRO: Now, world famous scientist Stephen Hawking has launched the biggest ever search for intelligent alien life. The project will take ten years and cost 100 million dollars, but what are they likely to find? Here's Amelia to give us some ideas.

Old movie: Flying saucers have invaded our planet!

AMELIA MOSLEY, REPORTER: For a long time, people on Earth have imagined what extra terrestrials might actually be like.

GIRL ONE: They’d look like us and they’d be all normal and that but they’d maybe think differently to us and maybe speak differently, but they'd look exactly like us.

BOY ONE: They'd be about the size of a toddler, but they'd have like tentacles or something.

BOY TWO: Kind of a brownish, greenish alien with like three eyes and trumpets for ears.

BOY THREE: Like a giant bug with like bones at the front. And then it would have tentacles and it would grab us and eat us and run around the city destroying everything in sight.

Orson Wells, War of the Worlds: Just a minute, Ladies and Gentlemen, I think something is happening!

Ok so the whole idea of aliens might seem like something out of an old sci-fi movie, but the search for them is very real. Scientists reckon with billions of galaxies out there, there's a very good chance life exists beyond our planet. But finding it? Well that’s another matter.

Enter - the men in black. One of the smartest people in the world, British scientist Stephen Hawking, has teamed up with one of the richest, Russian billionaire Yuri Milner; their mission is to discover if we're really alone in the universe.

STEPHEN HAWKING: Mankind has a deep need to explore, to learn, to know. It is important to us to know if we are alone in the dark.